Colorado § 12-245-307 - Continuing professional development - rules.

§ 12-245-307. Continuing professional development - rules.

(1) In accordance with section 12-245-304, the board issues a license to practice as a psychologist based on whether the applicant satisfies minimum educational and experience requirements that demonstrate competency to practice as a psychologist. After a license is issued to an applicant, the licensed psychologist shall complete continuing professional development and educational hours to maintain his or her license as a psychologist.

(2) The board shall adopt rules establishing a continuing professional development program that includes, at a minimum, the following elements:

(a) The development, execution, and documentation of a learning plan;

(b) A requirement that, every two years, a licensed psychologist complete at least forty hours of continuing professional development, including one or more of the following activities, in any combination, chosen by the licensed psychologist:

(I) (A) Attending workshops; seminars; symposia; colloquia; invited speaker sessions; postdoctoral institutes; or scientific or professional programs offered at meetings of local, state, regional, national, or international professional or scientific organizations. The activities completed pursuant to this subsection (2)(b)(I) may include online continuing education but must qualify as continuing education units or continuing medical education credit approved by the American Psychological Association, state medical association, or Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education or by a regionally accredited institution of higher education; except that up to five of the continuing professional development hours completed pursuant to this subsection (2)(b)(I) may come from attendance at nonaccredited programming that meets the other requirements of this subsection (2)(b)(I).

(B) A licensed psychologist must retain a transcript or a certificate of attendance, including a statement of the credits earned, provided at the end of the workshop, seminar, symposium, colloquium, invited speaker session, postdoctoral institute, or scientific or professional program offered at a meeting of a local, state, regional, national, or international professional or scientific organization as documentation of completion.

(II) Satisfactorily completing an ethics course offered by the American Psychological Association, state medical association, or Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, or a regionally accredited institution of higher education. A licensed psychologist must retain a certificate of attendance or a transcript as documentation of completion. One continuing education hour is equivalent to one professional development hour.

(III) Developing and teaching an academic course in psychology at an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association. Credit is given for the first time within a given licensure cycle that the licensed psychologist teaches the course, as documented by the dean or head of the department of the institution in which the course was taught, and is based on the number of credit hours, units, or hours assigned by the institution. One academic credit, unit, or hour is equivalent to ten continuing professional development hours.

(IV) Satisfactorily completing a graduate course in psychology offered by an institution accredited by a regional accrediting association and documented by an academic transcript showing the graduate credits earned. One academic credit, unit, or hour is equivalent to ten continuing professional development hours.

(V) Developing and presenting for the first time within a given licensure cycle a workshop, seminar, symposium, colloquium, or invited speaking session at a meeting of a professional or scientific organization or a postdoctoral institute, documented by a printed program or agenda. One hour of workshop, seminar, symposium, colloquial presentation, or invited speaking session is equivalent to three continuing professional development hours.

(VI) Authoring or editing a psychology publication documented by a cover sheet, masthead, or table of contents from the publication. The maximum hours that may be earned are as follows:

(A) Authoring a professional or scientific book is equivalent to forty hours of continuing professional development hours;

(B) Authoring a professional or scientific book chapter or journal article is equivalent to twenty hours of continuing professional development hours;

(C) Editing a professional or scientific book or journal is equivalent to thirty hours of continuing professional development hours.

(VII) Providing editorial review of a professional psychological or scientific journal article at the request of the journal's editorial staff. Editorial review, as documented by acknowledgment of the completed review by the editorial staff, is equivalent to one continuing professional development hour.

(c) A requirement that each licensed psychologist maintain all documentation for his or her continuing professional development hours.

(3) A licensed psychologist is not required to receive preapproval from the board or other entity prior to the completion of a continuing professional development activity in order to receive credit for the continuing professional development hours.

(4) The board may audit up to five percent of licensed psychologists each two-year cycle to determine compliance with continuing professional development requirements.

(5) (a) Records of assessments or other documentation developed or submitted in connection with the continuing professional development program are confidential and not subject to inspection by the public or discovery in connection with a civil action against a licensed psychologist. The records or documents shall be used only by the board for the purpose of determining whether a licensed psychologist is maintaining continuing professional development necessary to engage in the profession.

(b) Subject to the requirements of subsection (5)(a) of this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the discovery of information or documents that are otherwise discoverable under the Colorado rules of civil procedure in connection with a civil action against a licensed psychologist.

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1263, § 1, effective October 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 12-43-307 as it existed prior to 2019.